Four inductees will join the WWE Hall of Fame in Los Angeles, California, following SmackDown.
The new class is made up of Rey Mysterio, The Great Muta, Stacy Keibler and comedian Andy Kaufman. Additionally, the late Tim White will be honored with the company's Warrior Award.
Outside a three-year run when he left the company, Mysterio has been a fixture of WWE since 2002 following the end of WCW and has held nearly every major singles title in WWE.
The Great Muta never competed in WWE, but recently wrapped a near-yearlong retirement tour after a lengthy career. He had memorable runs in WCW and NJPW in addition to being the former president of AJPW.
Keibler is a former WCW Nitro Girl and rose to prominence as Ms. Hancock before coming to WWE post-sale. She was in WWE from 2001-2006 but never held a title.
Kaufman was also never in WWE, but was part of a legendary feud with Jerry Lawler.
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Michael Cole and Wade Barrett are on commentary for the Hall of Fame Kickoff.
Byron Saxton and Maria Menounos interviewed Corey Graves & Carmella backstage. Graves spoke about meeting The Great Muta for the first time tonight.
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Cathy Kelley interviewed Booker T and Sharmell backstage. Sharmell talked about her fellow Nitro Girl, Stacy Keibler, being inducted tonight.
Back to Saxton and Menounos who are with Kurt Angle and his wife, Giovanna. Angle said he loves Rey Mysterio "like a brother."
Michael Cole then spoke about having known Rey Mysterio for over 20 years.
Charlotte Flair is with Cathy Kelley. She mentioned that she was wearing matching outfits with her husband on the red carpet.
Saxton and Menounos interview The Miz and Maryse.
Cole discussed Tim White winning this year's Warrior Award. He mentioned how White had been Andre the Giant's assistant, ran the Friendly Tap bar, and what he meant to the company.
Sami Zayn and his wife are backstage with Menounos and Saxton. He mentioned him and Kevin Owens wrestling for years in PWG, mentioning Pro Wrestling Guerrilla by name. Zayn also seemed concerned that Dominik might somehow disrupt his father's induction.
The crowd got excited as Rob Van Dam took his seat on the stage with the other Hall of Famers and legends.
The Street Profits are backstage with Saxton and Kelley where Montez Ford and Saxton wearing matching jackets was the focus of the conversation.
That takes us to the main show.
We open up with a video featuring previously inducted members of the WWE Hall of Fame.
Kayla Braxton and Corey Graves are at the podium inside the ring. Braxton announces Stacy Keibler as the first to be inducted. Footage of Keibler's career set to ZZ Top's "She's Got Legs" is shown.
Keibler's pre-WWE career from Baltimore Ravens cheerleader to Nitro Girl, to Miss Hancock to WWE is recapped. They also showed footage of her from Dancing With The Stars and more from her post-WWE career.
Graves introduces Mick Foley and Torrie Wilson to induct her. Keibler inducted Wilson into the Hall of Fame in 2019.
Foley suggested that Keibler and Molly Holly have a match to determine who is the nicest person in the history of WWE. He shared some memories from their time in WWE together before introducing Wilson. She spoke about meeting Keibler in WCW and said her friendly carefree attitude won people over all the time. Wilson spoke more about Keibler's accomplishments in wrestling and in her post-wrestling career.
Keibler made her entrance set once again to ZZ Top's "She's Got Legs."
She thanked the fans and spoke about having always loved performing since she was little. Keibler showed a photo of her when she was young in a WCW live crowd holding up a sign that said, "Thank you Bret." She said she was a superfan then and she's a superfan now. Another photo of her wearing an NWO Wolfpac shirt as a kid was shown as well.
Keibler spoke about wrestlers being gritty and how even though wrestling hurts, her pain went away whenever she went through the curtain. Keibler thanked Madusa for pushing her, Trish, Lita, Molly Holly, Jaqueline, Jazz, Victoria, and Gail Kim were mentioned. She also thanked Fit Finlay, The Dudley Boyz, Shane Helms, and Torrie Wilson. She said Foley will always have a special place in her heart. Keibler thanked her family, who were then shown ringside.
She thanked the fans again and then wrapped it up.
Next up is Andy Kaufman.
A video featuring footage of Kaufman's time in wrestling along with comments from Jerry Lawler, William Shatner, and Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias is shown. The video also had a clip of Kaufman's friend Bob Zmuda saying Kaufman achieved his dream wrestling in Memphis.
Jerry Lawler sent in a video. Lawler said as he's home recovering, he asked Jimmy Hart to help induct Kaufman into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Jimmy Hart came out to his song, "Eat Your Heart Out Rick Springfield." Hart told some stories of how much Kaufman loved wrestling. He told different stories about how he and Kaufman once got attacked in their car because they were hated so much. Hart said that Kaufman would refuse to sign autographs to stay in character and told other stories from his time in wrestling.
Hart then introduced the Kaufman family to the ring. Andy's brother thanked Lawler for making all of this happen. He said Kaufman was a lifelong fan of wrestling and didn't get into it as a gag. They mentioned people told Kaufman that wrestling was bad for his career but he wouldn't stop because he loved it. They said being inducted into the Hall of Fame would have meant the world to him. Kaufman's daughter thanked the fans and the speech finished up.
Dominik and Ripley are shown, which got a reaction from the crowd.
The Great Muta will be inducted next.
Footage of The Great Muta's career is shown focussing entirely on his time as The Great Muta character. The clips were mainly from WCW but there was also some footage from NOAH as well. They made special mention of Tegan Nox doing Muta's Shining Wizard and showed a side-by-side of both doing the move. Asuka was shown talking about the mysterious mist. She said Muta is the reason she became a wrestler. Footage of his match against Nakamura is also shown.
Ric Flair is introduced to induct Muta.
Flair told some stories of working with Muta. He also commented on Asuka being "a bada**" at one point. Flair talked about his respect for the culture of wrestling in Japan. He then listed off wrestlers who beat him up in Japan. Flair gave a special mention to Jumbo Tsuruta and said he wants to induct him one day. He then joked about Hunter coming out to wrap him up. Flair then introduced Muta, referring to him as someone who performed in the same class as Ricky Steamboat and Shawn Michaels.
Muta walked to the ring. Flair continued to say that Muta once looked after his son as if he was his own and that he will love him forever. The crowd chants Muta's name.
Muta thanked everyone and said he would keep it short because he doesn't speak English well. He said he was honored to be in the WWE Hall of Fame and wrapped up a short but fun speech. He then blew green mist into the air to a big pop. Asuka was then shown cheering in the crowd.
Braxton and Graves then introduced a video about Tim White winning the Warrior Award.
Clips of White's refereeing career were shown including segments and matches with several Hall of Famers. They also spoke about his role and friendship with Andre the Giant. A clip of White saying he particularly enjoyed working with The Godfather is also shown. They also mentioned his career behind the scenes and that he was universally liked.
JBL and Ron Simmons are brought out as the APA to induct White.
Ron Simmons said "Damn" after waiting a comedically appropriate time. JBL said that Tim was a great friend of theirs and a great friend of everybody. They spoke about spending a lot of time in Tim's bar. Simmons joked about how whenever White needed to renovate the bar, he'd call WWE about doing a scene there so WWE would then need to pay for the damage caused.
JBL introduced Tim's brothers to accept the Warrior Award.
Tim's brother said the whole White family wanted to thank the WWE for his induction into the Hall of Fame. He said that if his brother was here today, he would express his gratitude for all the love, support, and friendships he received during his career. Tim's other brother then hoisted the Warrior Award trophy up Stanley Cup style and celebrated, which was pretty fun.
Braxton and Graves announced that Rey Mysterio's induction is up next.
Footage of Rey Mysterio's WWE career was shown. There were some clips from WCW and ECW but it was primarily focused on his WWE career. Rey and Eddie Guerrero's time working together was featured as well. I don't believe there was any footage of Dominik shown.
Konnan is brought out to induct Mysterio. He got a nice response and went right into it with a lot of energy. The crowd started to liven up. Konnan talked about how much things have changed, and how much more diverse wrestling has become. He talked about how Rey was a young surfer when he met him. It was hard to get promoters to use him but he would try with anyone who would listen. He told stories about lying to bouncers about Rey's age so he could get into venues to perform.
Konnan continued to talk about bringing Mysterio to ECW and WCW and pushing him hard as a generational talent to promoters. He also talked about Rey's debut match in WCW getting a standing ovation backstage. His importance to Lucha libre and how he broke barriers of what a wrestler is supposed to look like is also mentioned.
Konnan made a joke about being adopted and "replacing Dominik." The camera then cut to Dominik who did not look pleased.
Konnan was amazing here and got the crowd super into it.
Rey comes out. Dominik and Ripley are the only ones on the stage who don't stand up and cheer. Rey walks past and there is no exchange between them.
"You deserve it" chants ring out throughout the arena. Rey told them to stop so he doesn't cry more. A really big, long ovation for Rey. He thanked Konnan for the introduction. And with that, Dominik, Ripley, and Damian Priest stood up and left to a chorus of boos. Rey looked upset but composed himself. Rey told the crowd he "would take care of business tomorrow," which got a big reaction.
Rey spoke about starting his career in Mexico and backyards in Los Angeles. He said he wanted to follow in his uncle, Rey Mysterio Sr's footsteps. He loved Lucha libre and started training at eight years old. His uncle would chop him so hard that he would bail out of the ring and hide in a corner.
Rey talked about meeting Konnan when he was 12. It was a little brother, big brother relationship. He told a story about having to get his wrestling license in Mexico, which was difficult because he hadn't even turned 15 yet. Rey's father signed a waiver thinking that he would quit. He talked about it being hard to get booked because of his size.
Rey talked about Konnan calling him when he was starting AAA and said Konnan wouldn't let him turn down the opportunity. Rey said he couldn't leave his girlfriend but Konnan responded that "if she loves you, she'll wait for you" and now that woman is his wife. He talked about her sending him money when he was on the road and broke, which got an "Angie" chant from the crowd.
Rey continued to talk about ECW and gave a special mention to Psicosis and Dean Malenko. He spoke about WCW and his relationship with Eddie Guerrero, which got a big reaction from the crowd. Rey mentioned he took some time off after WWE bought WCW as his daughter, Aalyah, was just born.
He moved on to his WWE career next. He thanked anyone who had anything to do with his story and his success. Rey thanked his family, his coaches, and the veterans who broke him in. He specifically mentioned Konnan, and said he and his wife have a saying that they thank God first for everything they have, and Konnan second.
Rey also thanked Paul Heyman, Eric Bischoff, Kevin Sullivan, and everyone he was ever in the ring with. William Regal, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, all the agents he's worked with, Batista, Undertaker, Edge, JBL, Kurt Angle, Randy Orton, John Cena, and Eddie Guerrero all received mention from Rey here. He thanked the WWE Universe as well and wrapped up his speech. Rey hugged several people ringside and received a standing ovation from the crowd as the show went off the air.